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Asics Gel Lyte III Daruma Review

By Anthony Levine, longtime sneaker collector.

These Asics Gel Lyte III Daruma came out in a pack alongside a red pair and represent the Japanese Daruma Doll. This doll typically symbolizes luck and perserverance.

Asics Gel Lyte III Daruma Baltic Jewel WDYWT On Feet
Click/tap image to shop for these on eBay!

The last pair of GL3 I grabbed was the Sneakerlah collab, and now I’m on to these special GRs that Asics put out to start the year.

Mine came in a brown Asics box. These shipped with one Asics care tag and black flat laces with beige aglets. Extras include a hangtag modeled after the face on a daruma doll and rivets that screw into the top eyelets on the sneaker (complete with an instruction card).

People have definitely been sleeping on Asics recently and a lot of excellent shoes are flying under the radar. I definitely would include these as slept on although they did sell out initially. Luckily, they came back on the Asics site and I jumped on them as soon as I saw that!

How Are The Materials?

These pretty much sport an entirely leather upper (besides the mesh tongue/ankle area). The exceptions are the Asics stripes and a hit on the back which are patent leather. There are also 3M hits by the toe, on the back and outlining the Asics stripes. Overall I like the leather quality on them! You can definitely see some natural grain and the feeling is soft and somewhat plush. For a general release pair of Asics at $120, these knock it out of the park!

How Do They Fit?

These Asics Gel Lyte III Daruma fit true to size. I find that the split tongue makes these easy to slide on and off – and is probably the part of the shoe that most sneakerheads need to get used to if they’ve never worn this model before. Still the shoe is very comfortable if you can get the sizing right.

Where To Cop the Asics Gel Lyte III Daruma

As of the writing of this article, you can find this colorway on eBay. You can also shop other Gel Lyte III’s on the Asics website.

Colorway: Baltic Jewel / Black
Style Code: 1201A180-300
Year of Release: 2021
MSRP: $120